Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Decreases Stake in SM Energy (NYSE:SM)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its holdings in shares of SM Energy (NYSE:SM) by 7.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 88,344 shares of the energy company’s stock after selling 7,366 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio owned 0.08% of SM Energy worth $3,531,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SM. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in SM Energy by 79.2% during the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 65,421 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $2,615,000 after purchasing an additional 28,920 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in shares of SM Energy by 144.6% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 22,357 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $894,000 after buying an additional 13,215 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 82.2% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 411,103 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $17,772,000 after buying an additional 185,433 shares during the last quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. increased its stake in shares of SM Energy by 7.3% in the third quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. now owns 178,750 shares of the energy company’s stock worth $7,145,000 after buying an additional 12,102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in SM Energy by 267.4% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 391,107 shares of the energy company’s stock valued at $15,633,000 after acquiring an additional 284,665 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.56% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. raised shares of SM Energy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Tudor Pickering raised SM Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on SM Energy from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on SM Energy from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $53.00 price objective (up from $51.00) on shares of SM Energy in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.00.

SM Energy Stock Performance

Shares of SM opened at $40.43 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $43.18 and a 200-day moving average of $43.97. The company has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.65 and a beta of 4.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 3.52 and a current ratio of 3.52. SM Energy has a 1 year low of $34.76 and a 1 year high of $53.26.

SM Energy (NYSE:SM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $643.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $643.67 million. SM Energy had a net margin of 33.89% and a return on equity of 19.62%. SM Energy’s quarterly revenue was up .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.73 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that SM Energy will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

SM Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 4th. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th were given a $0.20 dividend. This is a boost from SM Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 25th. SM Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.17%.

About SM Energy

SM Energy Company, an independent energy company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil, gas, and natural gas liquids in the state of Texas. It has working interests in oil and gas producing wells in the Midland Basin and South Texas. The company was formerly known as St.